The present invention relates to a semiconductor substrate structure and a semiconductor device.
With a related semiconductor substrate structure, a conductive layer, where there is no pattern of a semiconductor device on a semiconductor substrate, and having a larger surface area at the outer periphery of the semiconductor substrate than an internal pattern, exists and this conductive layer is often not electrically connected to the semiconductor substrate. For example, a pattern of a semiconductor device is not formed on the portion where a manufacturing lot number is stamped for identifying a wafer so that the lot number can be read easily. With this structure, a conductive layer is therefore effectively not electrically connected with a semiconductor substrate (refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2).
With the above structure, when a semiconductor device is exposed to the atmosphere for plasma etching during its manufacture, a charge is built up on its conductive layer insulated from the semiconductor substrate, and in some cases an abnormal discharge is generated on the conductive layer. Such an abnormal discharge phenomenon on a conductive layer often generates particles on the semiconductor substrate. The particles due to this abnormal discharge inhibit patterning of a semiconductor device, and further cause significant drop in yield. It also causes a significant decrease in productivity because the particles caused by the abnormal discharge prevent a manufacturing lot number stamped on a wafer from being read. Solving the abnormal discharge phenomena on this conductive layer has been a big problem.